So says best-selling author and prominent financial journalist Jane Bryant Quinn who explains that, with lifespans getting longer, people worry that they will run out of money when they retire. "At 65 you might live another 30-plus years," she said. "You have Social Security, you maybe have a pension, you have a certain amount of savings and investments, but you don't know how long you're going to live."
Her latest book, "How to Make Your Money Last: The Indispensable Retirement Guide," out Tuesday, Jan. 5, addresses those concerns, offering ideas and recipes for increasing the income you get from your savings and investments, maintaining that income for life, and simple tools such as index mutual funds and immediate pay annuities.
Quinn, a former Chappaqua and North Salem resident and the Founding Editorial Director of Daily Voice, says the book has been on her mind for several years. "There are tons of books on retirement lifestyle advice and lots of books on how to invest in retirement, but there wasn't a book on how to turn whatever savings you have into a reliable income for life," she said.
Quinn encourages readers to look at their savings and investments in a new way. "It starts with right-sizing your life," she says. "Projecting your future income and developing a lifestyle to fit."
The book not only deals with the financial steps needed for lifelong security but the emotional ones as well including the five stages of retirement from Pre-Retirement (thinking about it) to the Honeymoon phase ("I'm finally free!") to Disenchanted ("I'm free, but free to do what?") to Reorientation (adjusting to a new reality) to Stability. "Stability is where you want to be so you can quit worrying about money and enjoy yourself," she said.
Learn more at Quinn's free readings, held at various Westchester libraries throughout January. Event specifics are listed below.
- Sunday, Jan. 17, 3 p.m., Ruth Keeler Memorial Library, 276 Titicus Rd., North Salem, (914) 669-5161
- Wednesday, Jan. 20, 6:30 p.m, Tuckahoe Public Library, 71 Columbus Ave, Tuckahoe, (914) 961-2121
- Sunday, Jan. 24, 2 p.m., Warner Library, 121 North Broadway, Tarrytown, (914) 631-7734
For more financial advice, go to www.janebryantquinn.com/. Quinn, incidentally, isn't retiring anytime soon though she did admit she may slow down.
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